††††††††††† WHEREAS, National Parks serve as anchors
to greater urban park systems, and contribute to the physical and aesthetic
quality of urban neighborhoods; and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, National Parks are valuable
contributors to job opportunities, youth development, public health, and
community building; and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, National Parks are economic
engines critical to supporting residential, commercial, and community
development activities in cities across America; and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, National Parks provide
affordable, safe, and inspiring places for people to play, exercise, and relax;
and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, every dollar invested in
National Park operations generates $10 for local economies and every two Parks
Service jobs yield one job outside the park; and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, National Parks draw
international tourists to our cities, and 8 of the top 25 tourist destinations
in America are national park units; and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, the National Park Service budget
has been cut by 22% over the last three years and parks could see ongoing cuts
for the foreseeable future; and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, 92 percent of voters think that
federal spending on National Parks should be increased or be kept the same; and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, the nation will mark the 100th
anniversary of the creation of the modern National Park System in 2016; and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, since 1916, our park system has
grown to include not only the most splendid examples of Americaís unsurpassed
natural and scenic heritage, but also the special places, artifacts, and
stories of our nationís birth, our struggles and triumphs as a people, and the
shared values that unite us; and

††††††††††† WHEREAS, National Parks are one of the
few things on which overwhelming majorities of the American people agree,

††††††††††† NOW, THEREFORE,
BE IT RESOLVED,that The United States Conference of Mayors supports efforts to connect new
and diverse constituents to national parks and protect the land and resources
that surround national parks, and affirms its support for preserving the
economic stability of our communities by protecting National Park budgets from
further cuts.

††††††††††† Projected Cost: Federal funding
to be determined by the Fiscal Year 2014 budget process.